Tui in full voice while busy depleting the stocks of nectar from a tree on the slopes of Owairaka/Mount Albert. Photo / Jason Oxenham
Welcome to the new nature
Your wonderful picture of the tūī in the exotic magnolia in the Herald celebrates the spring and illustrates a difficult reality. We can’t keep to long-held ideologies of natives only
and return NZ to the original state of nature. We have and have become dependent on exotic species. We have put evolution on steroids and a new nature is rapidly evolving. The tūī thrives in the urban environment on both exotic and native species and will soon move from the banned cherries to feed on the nectar of the native kowhai. I observe equal numbers of exotic and native wildlife in urban and rural areas. The huhu grub lives in the rotting exotic pine log. The white-faced heron feeds on the pest rainbow skink. Changes…
